This invention relates to a bypass graft. The bypass graft is useful for vascular bypass operations, for example, in bypass an aneurysm in the aorta. This invention also relates to a method for performing a bypass operation such as a vascular bypass operation.
Conventional endovascular operations to bypass an aortic aneurysm use a graft comprising a tubular member with wire lattices at opposite ends. The lattice at one end of the tubular member is inserted into the upstream end of the aorta and attached there, while two wire lattices at the opposite end of the tubular member are inserted into the upstream ends of the iliac arteries. A problem frequently arises in that there is not enough undamaged artery at the upstream end of the shunted section of the aorta to enable a successful attachment of the graft at the upstream end. More specifically, in many cases there is not enough undamaged aorta downstream of the junctions of the renal arteries and the superior mesenteric artery with the aorta.